The Avenger's Shadow
by BlackSamurai
Summary: During a fight, Temari and Ino were injured badly by Sasuke. Shikamaru's blood boils as he prepares to fight one of the greatest genius of his generation. One Shot


Author's Note: Shikamaru VS Sasuke. Don't deny it, this is what would happen. Also, no it's not that I hate Sasuke. I think he's a cool character but Shikamaru's just way cooler.

Shikamaru growled as he looked at Sasuke, rain battering down on the two. He looked to his side, Ino and Temari were barely clinging onto life as several kunai pinned them to a tree. "You son of a bitch Uchiha." The lazy Jounin seethed with anger. He couldn't believe Sasuke would do such a thing. Ino and Temari's bodies were damaged so badly, the mere sight of the two being injured by Sasuke made Shikamaru want to kill the Uchiha survivor.

"I have to give it to you Nara, you sure know how to pick your girls. Both were really feisty until I disguised a rock as your head. That made an opening big enough for a Genin to see." The Avenger tossed the simple rock up and done then tossed it behind him. "Such bonds make you weak." The warrior grinned and drew a kunai. "You should prepare yourself Nara, no matter how smart you are, with these eyes…" Sasuke flashed his eyelids, the Sharingan revealing itself. "I will always see you!"

"With those eyes, you merely give my calculations a better view on how you'll move. I've studied enough about the Sharingan to know about its peak. I know you haven't achieved the ultimate secret of your family's Dojutsu. But make no mistake, you'll be down before Naruto gets here." Shikamaru's mind became sharp as a razor and started calculating, theorizing and strategizing. He can't afford to make a mistake. He had two options: to either stall Sasuke until Naruto gets here or make sure this son of a bitch never walks again.

Sasuke was an avid Taijutsu expert, extremely fast and also very good at Ninjutsu. He had to make sure to keep his distance so he could see Ninjutsu attacks coming and to keep himself far away from any real close combat. Kage Mane No Jutsu would be how he would win in this. The lazy Jounin drew a kunai himself and fingered his bag while drawing his kunai.

_Fourteen kunais, twelve shurikens, four smoke bombs, three explosive notes and two flash bangs. I also have about twelve meters of wire and a singe vial of Chakra water. _

_If he uses his Curse Seal to break out of Kage Mane No Jutsu, I'll have to use the Chakra water to rejuvenate myself without a doubt. Damn it… That stuff is rare I want to make sure it's absolutely necessary before using it. _

Shikamaru fingered his kunai then grinned, looking at Sasuke. Over the years the lazy Jounin had trained extensively (despite how lazy he was) and his eyes were the sharpest of them all. No matter how fast or keen Sasuke would travel, he would still be able to find him.

Sasuke immediately disappeared on that thought, speeding across the forest and his target clear: Shikamaru. The genius' senses perked up as he became aware of everything around him.

_Left side!_

Shikamaru brought his hands up to block a powerful kick from his left but the force was so great he was sent sailing. Midair, the ninja threw his kunai precisely, missing Sasuke and hitting a tree nearby. The Uchiha survivor was quick, dodging the attack then initiating his own attack again. Two kunais were fling precisely at Shikamaru's chest, however the second kunai would hit the first, causing it to fly in the direction that Sasuke was seeing his opponent was going to dodge in.

Shikamaru was much smarter, anything he was initially going to see it would be seen and he instead stayed absolutely still, clasping his heads together and forming the Rat seal, his shadow stretched forward. "Kage Mane No Jutsu!" His shadow stretched forward, chasing after the limber Sasuke.

The Uchiha bounced back and back, avoiding the shadow at all cost. If his shadow were caught by the Nara's technique the match would be over. If Sasuke was right, Shikamaru carried an extra kunai inside his jacket, he'll then reach into his jacket and grip this kunai. Sasuke didn't have an extra kunai in his jacket, he would grab at air. Or even worse, Sasuke is also taller then Shikamaru. The genius could just toss their shurikens into the air at the same time and then raise both their hands. Sasuke would catch his first and then in that split second, Shikamaru will close his hand, the kunai's handle bouncing off of his closed fist. Sure it would hurt, but not nearly as much as it would if Sasuke shoved his own kunai into his very own chest.

Shikamaru's shadow swerved and turned with each move Sasuke made and finally the ninja thought of something. _I'm such an idiot for not doing this in the first place! _The Avenger drew a shuriken and flung it in Shikamaru's direction while he was still bounding away from the stretching shadow.

"You'll have to dodge and break this Jutsu or you'll die!" Sasuke mocked, rebounding off a tree to avoid the shadow some more. Suddenly, Shikamaru's shadow made a shape, a replication of himself; the Shadow Bunshin rose up and got the two shurikens. The Bunshin dissipiated into the ground, leaving the shuriken to clatter safely onto the grass and Shikamaru's shadow still chasing the frantic Sasuke.

"Kage Mane Bunshin No Jutsu. This technique allows me to protect myself even when in the process of grabbing someone else's shadow"

_However, with time this will eventually drain all of my Chakra, I'm not giving my body enough time to recharge its Chakra._

Finally Sasuke was able to reach a spot where the shadow could not reach him, he was safe. And even with the huge distance between them Sasuke could still do some damage with his Ninjutsu attacks.

_Can't get near Nara with his Shadow Jutsus, I'll have to play it safe._

Forming rapid seals and sucking in huge amounts of air, the Uchiha survivor prepared to use a high level fire Jutsu. "KARYUU ENDAN!" the ninja cried out and breathed out the three flying dragons of fire.

Shikamaru reached into his bag and flung three kunai into the flame. They all hit nowhere near their target, slamming into trees surrounding Sasuke.

"The fire's too hard to see through!" Sasuke cried out loudly, as if mocking his enemy.

The dragonheads all swerved into different directions as if they all held some sort of sentience.

Shikamaru jumped up and dodged two of the giant fire attacks and prepared a simple Jutsu to dodge the last. As the dragonhead prepared to engulf him in flames that could melt steel, it was replaced with a simple log (that immediately burst into flames)

The entire playing field remained quiet for minutes, Sasuke peering at the trees with his eyes, hoping to see where the lazy genius was. "You can't hide forever Nara, eventually you will lose your stamina if you continue to hide your Chakra." Sasuke smirked but also mentally frowned.

_What the hell… What could that fool be doing?_ Sasuke had to flush the genius out soon, the more time that Nara had time to think the better the chance of Sasuke's defeat.

Sasuke jumped into the trees himself, skimming from branch to branch, frantically searching for the genius. He held out a kunai, ready to plunge into his opponent at a moment's notice. Suddenly, he could hear a slight burning sound. _An explosive note! _The warrior flipped out of the tree, his eyes catching every detail. Shikamaru had laid down a trap so he would jump out and into his…

"Shadow!" The Uchiha survivor cried out, seeing in mid flip where he would land. If he didn't blow himself off course he would land right into Shikamaru's Jutsu. Any of his normal fire Jutsus, even Karyuu Endan wouldn't have enough power to blow himself off course, it would just suspend him in mid-air and definitely not long enough for Shikamaru to run out of Chakra.

"Damn it!" Sasuke had no choice, it would injure himself a bit but it was either a few scratches and bruises or a kunai in his chest. Activating one of his explosive notes quickly, he waited a few seconds before scattering it into the wind. The explosion shook the forest, sending Sasuke flying in the opposite direction from the blast and Shikamaru to cover his face from the debris.

Sasuke had landed perfectly onto the tree but not without a number of minor injuries. Nothing that would hinder him too much in battle but it irritated him to no end. "You no good…" Sasuke growled and then disappeared in a flash of speed.

Shikamaru barely had time to raise his hands to defend against the powerful Taijutsu moves that Sasuke started dishing out. The punches he landed on his forearm began to sting and then he could feel the deep pain in his stomach. The next thing he knew he was flying through the sky, the air beaten out of him.

Following his attacks perfectly, Sasuke continued to pummel Shikamaru with powerful and perfectly executed Taijutsu moves, the genius tried his best to put up a fight but his Taijutsu was shameful compared to the Uchiha's.

_Tch… I can't keep this up or I'm going to die. _

Shikamaru quickly drew one of his own explosive notes and activated it, he could feel it burning in his hand but he had to suppress its noise so he crushed it firmly, muffling the noise it was making.

In a flash of an eye, Shikamaru tossed it in Sasuke's direction then jumped backwards, disappearing into the trees. Sasuke growled as he had to jump back too to avoid the explosive note from tearing him apart.

Shikamaru hid in the trees, trying his best to keep his breathing down. He had taken quite a beating from Sasuke and that had taken quite the toll on his stamina. "Temari… Ino…" He muttered under his breath. Tears squeezed out from his closed eyes as he felt the anger boil inside of him. "Sasuke… you're going to pay." He brought his hands together; forming the same circle he had used so many other times.

In a few moments Shikamaru opened his eyes, his face grim as ever. "Man this is troublesome…" He cracked his neck and observed the trees, seeing Sasuke had bounced back into the middle, readying himself another complicated Jutsu.

"I'll show you something only someone with a fully developed Sharingan can use!" Stringing every single one of his shurikens and kunais, the Uchiha survivor flung them in every direction. Waving his hands like a symphony director, Sasuke directed each shuriken and kunai to hit each and every tree that wasn't already burned down by his Karyuu Endan.

Securing the string by looping it around some kunais and then flinging it to the ground at his feet, Sasuke bit at the several pieces of wire. "I'll flush you out! This technique doesn't require much Chakra and without all the trees to hide in… you're finished!"

"KATON! RYUUKA NO JUTSU!" The fires spewed forth from his mouth, the fire directing at each and every tree, the fire taking turns to spread but soon after, every tree was on fire.

Sasuke continued to pour flames out of his mouth until the last tree would be hit… but then the fire stopped short. He had lost control of his body! How?

"Confused? I'll show you." Shikamaru said. Sasuke felt his head being forced to look at the ground and there was Shikamaru's shadow being extended by the endless amounts of shadows that Sasuke had created.

"I knew that you would eventually do this as an ultimatum, you knew that if I had too much time to think I would realize a number of weaknesses to your Sharingan somehow. I would exploit even the tiniest shred of an opening that you would eventually have and plot it against you. That was true to some extent… but I knew none of it was necessary, I spent most of this battle staring at the clouds while you were busying yourself and going crazy." Shikamaru said coolly. "I'm going to make sure you die a most painful death. Fuck whatever Naruto has planned for you. I don't care if he demotes me back to the academy, I'll make sure you die."

Sasuke began to laugh, the same arrogant laugh he always did. "I knew this would happen eventually, I was just hoping I could kill you before you had to force me to force my way out." The cursed seal on his neck began to spread quickly across his face "I won't need Level 2 to beat you, I can force my way out easily… especially at your distance. You're known throughout the country Shikamaru as one of the best tacticians ever. You're known to rewrite books on combat tactics but what you're entire family is known for are these Shadow Jutsus. I know how to force my way out!" With that last word, Sasuke's Chakra exploded like a geyser, forcing Shikamaru to dismiss his Jutsu or waste all of his energy.

Sasuke charged through with enormous speed, unafraid of what the genius can now dish out. "What's wrong Nara? As a great tactician you should know about my Curse Seal!" He mocked, his eyes radiated with malice and his muscles tingled with power.

Shikamaru was panting heavily. He was slumped against the only tree that hasn't been burned. He looked up at Sasuke, his Chakra was nearly completely depleted, and he didn't have the power to stretch his shadow any longer than a foot.

"You lose Nara, you can meet your girlfriends in hell" Sasuke smiled maliciously and pointed his kunai at his opponent. "In any case, I can see your shadow hit me, the flames are making the shadow cast in the opposite direction. If you stretch the shadow it'll have to make a turn, and I'll notice it long before that happens."

"So you know that at this range it doesn't matter with your Curse Seal, I'll grab you so tightly you won't be able to force free unless you use Level two Curse Seal?" Shikamaru panted.

"Whatever Nara, you shouldn't talk too much before you DIE!" Sasuke drew his arm back for an attack.

"Sasuke, you should know that none of my moves are ever wasted…you see, when I threw those three kunais at you, they hit three trees. This is one of the trees I hit." A small ball with the kanji "Light" on it dropped from the kunai above. It exploded right behind Shikamaru, creating a huge shadow and immediately grabbing Sasuke's.

"You lose … Uchiha Bastard." Shikamaru got up and drew the kunai in his jacket. At the same moment Sasuke grabbed at air. "I won't let you activate your seal!" Shikamaru cried. He raised his hand to slam the kunai into his opponent's chest but was stopped short by a powerful palm gripping his neck. Pressed harshly against the tree behind him, Shikamaru could barely breathe.

"Too bad with training the Curse Seal doesn't really take long to activate." Sasuke growled, his hair growing longer by the moment and his entire appearance changing. "You lose Nara, like I said… see you in hell."

Shikamaru spat in his opponent's face. "Too bad I'm not going to hell… not yet." He grinned that lazy grin. Suddenly a huge force separated the two, causing Sasuke to fly into the open.

"Shikamaru… you all right?" the blonde ninja asked.

"Yea… get him Naruto." Shikamaru drifted into unconsciousness.

A/N: Hey wasn't that awesome? Loved the entire fight scene. This might stay a one-shot or it might progress.


End file.
